Hands-On with London's Youngest Brewer!

Whatever you’re thinking, stop it! When I say I spent the day ‘hands-on’ with London’s youngest brewer, Tony Lennon, I mean he was kind enough to let me spend the day brewing with him.

Without wishing to tease too much I'm afraid I can't write extensively right now about my day's brewing with Tony at the Florence in Herne Hill, sister pub to the Cock & Hen , because I'm writing an article for a couple of magazines, which I'm sure I'll be able to publish extracts from in the not too distant future.

However, what I will say is how educational it was for me.

Although I know the majority of the theory, and I've been to many different breweries of varying sizes, I've never actually been hands-on with the whole of the brewing process and certainly not on such a micro scale and it's really increased my understanding of the practical side of the process, as opposed to the slightly more 'fluffy' tasting and food matching side.

We were making Bonobo at 4.5%, the darker of the two beers brewed at both the Florence and the Cock & Hen, and my boss for the day seemed pretty pleased with it all so that's good - I'll let you know what it tastes like in 40 days, by which time I should be able to talk more about the day.

Tony - despite the fact he's got the hump with me for calling him a 'lovely lad' in a previous post - was more than a little patient with my occasionally stupid questions and the fact that I was almost certainly more hindrance than help.

And at the risk of sounding like one big advert for Capital Pub Company on this blog at the moment, you really should get down to the Florence. It's a beautiful pub, with a massive garden, lovely airy conservatory, great food, beautiful architecture and original features and an in-house brewery! As just a small taster of what's on offer - they sell Budvar, Aspall, Adnams and, of course, either Weasel or Bonobo.

I will sound a note of caution though and that's if, like me, you have a nutter magnet on your forehead you may find some of the local residents a little disturbing - I had a couple of funny ones - but my personal favourite for the day? The guy who was collecting and smoking 'recycled' cigarettes about two feet away from me (fortunately on the other side of some railings) who proceeded to growl at me for about five minutes much to the amusement of the other patrons!

But PLEASE don't let this put you off - this kind of stuff happens to me all the time - it really is the most lovely pub and even worth a trip to Herne Hill for!

It's Great to be British and Love Beer!

The GBBF went with a swing yesterday, or a sway in my case, and I'm delighted to say a mild won! I love mild, I think it's an amazing beer style and I hope that Hobson's Mild winning will get more people to understand that it's just the best post-work or lunchtime pint ever!

I've had the great pleasure of drinking Hobson's Mild and it's a lowly 3.2% but packed with nuttiness and just a tickle of hops - it's wonderful.

I was judging the speciality section and the head and shoulders winner of that was Nethergate's Umbel Magna - and for those of you who read my last entry YES I got the fruit beers (I think it's a girl thing - they see bird and think fruit beer!). For the full results visit www.camra.org.uk

Down on the floor however I tried some cracking beers - Hall & Woodhouse's new brew Pickled Partridge went down well and they were asking for feedback, I thought a bit more pickle in the partridge to be honest, by that I mean a bit more spice, but it's shaping up to be a good addition to the portfolio, which has been long overdue a darker beer.

I thought the Otley O1 was extremely good, it won bronze in the golden ales category, and Buster from Breconshire's beers were spot on again, keep an eye out for his Py II Welsh Pale Ale - it's going to be a corker.

Wasn't so sure about the Hophead Extra (5.8%) though - I thought it had too much caramel, which overwhelmed the usually clean and light aspect that the Dark Star's normal Hophead has, although I've got a sneaking suspicion that it needed a few more days conditioning in the barrel, it felt a bit green.

Overall the event was excellent and the smoking ban has made it a more pleasant place to be if I'm honest, less litter and grubbiness.

Then it was on to the fabulous Cock & Hen in Fulham (which to be honest I shouldn't have done as I was a little bit happy by this point) and the wonderful hospitality of Phil and the extremely pleasant company of Tony the brewer. Lovely lad, 27 years old, mechanic turned brewer - couldn't be happier I don't think!

If you haven't been to this gem of a pub yet then make the effort - Tony's beer are shaping up nicely, if somewhat bizarrely named particularly Bonobo - for those of you who don't know Bonobo apes are also our closest genetic relatives and are extremely promiscuous; engaging in group and homosexual sex as well masturbation so they're pretty happy most of the time!!

Rumour has it that the female bar staff probably aren't going to be too chuffed with the next name however - I'll leave you to find out what it is for yourself when you visit this cracking addition to the area. www.capitalpubcompany.com/cockandhen